In Re Estate of Clark

82 P. 760, 148 Cal. 108, 1905 Cal. LEXIS 642

• Court: California Supreme Court
• Decided: October 12, 1905
• Docket: Sac. No. 1336.
• Status: Published

Opinions

HENSHAW, J.

Julius H. Clark died in the county of Yolo, in the state of California, on the fourteenth day of March, 1904, and was a resident of that county at the time of his death. He had resided in the county for more than twenty years continuously prior to his death. On the thirteenth day of July, 1872, while visiting in Keene, New Hampshire, he executed his last will and testament. This will was executed in conformity with the laws of the state of New Hampshire, and also in conformity with the laws of the state of California. It was filed by the executrix named therein in the office of the county clerk of Yolo County, with a petition praying for the probate thereof. In addition to having been a resident of Yolo County at the time of his death, the deceased left estate in that county. Subsequent to the filing of the will and petition the superior court of Yolo County in probate made an order permitting the original will to be withdrawn and forwarded to Keene, New Hampshire. The will was then probated in New Hampshire, and thereafter appellant herein filed his petition in the superior court of the county of Yolo, asking for probate of the same will upon an exemplified copy from the probate court of the state of New Hampshire. The superior court of Yolo County took evidence and determined that at the' time of his death Clark was a resident of Yolo County. This finding is not in dispute. As a legal consequence following this finding, the court concluded that Clark’s will should be admitted to probate originally in the superior court of the county of Yolo, and was not entitled to admission as a foreign will. It denied the petition, and this appeal is taken.

We are here for the first time upon a direct proceeding, by appeal from an order refusing probate to such a will, called upon to construe our code provisions governing the question. We say that we are for the first time called upon in direct proceedings, because, as will hereafter be shown, the •cases in which the question may be considered to have arisen were either cases of collateral attack or cases where the precise question here presented was not made an issue, and therefore, under well-settled principles, cannot be said to have been decided. As all the provisions .of the code bearing upon a single subject-matter are to be construed together, and harmoniously if possible, it may be well to set forth the sections touching the probate of wills. Section 1294 of the Code of Civil Procedure declares: “Wills must be proved and letters testamentary or of administration granted: (1) In the county of which the decedent was a resident at the time of his death, in whatever place he may have died.” Article 3 of chapter 2 of the same title (11) containing section 1294, above quoted, is devoted to the probate of foreign wills. The article is itself entitled “Probate of Foreign Wills,” and section 1322 provides: “All wills duly proved and allowed in any other of the United States, or in any foreign country or state, may be allowed and recorded in the superior court of any county in which the testator shall have left any estate.” Section 1323, following, provides that notice of a petition for proving a will shall be given when a copy of the will and the probate thereof, duly authenticated, shall be produced by the executor, or by any other person interested in the will, with a petition for letters. Section 1324 provides that if on the hearing it appears upon the face of the record that the will has been proved, allowed, and admitted to probate in any other of the United States or in any foreign country, and that it was executed according to the law of the place in which the same was made, or in which the testator was at the time domiciled, or in conformity with the laws of this state, it must be admitted to probate and have the same force and effect as a will first • admitted to probate in this state. Section 1299 declares: “Any executor, devisee or legatee named in any will, or any other person interested in the estate, may at any time after the death of the testator petition the court having jurisdiction to have the will proved, whether the same be in writing, in his possession or not, or is lost or destroyed, or beyond the jurisdiction of the state.”

We take it that no jurist, feeling himself unembarrassed by earlier decisions and at liberty to treat the question as a new one, would hesitate to say: First, that section 1294 fixes the place of jurisdiction for all grants of original probate, while section 1322 does the same for grants of ancillary probate of authenticated copies of wills proved and probated in foreign jurisdictions. Second, that these laws mean that the will of a resident of the state of California must be proved originally as a domestic will in the county of his residence, and that, so far as the state of California is concerned, it cannot be primarily proved elsewhere and brought into this state for purposes of secondary and ancillary administration. In construing the language of section 1322 attention would be called to the fact that resort with propriety may be had to the title of an act, and often must be had, to determine its true scope and intent; that the title of section 1322, relating exclusively and in terms to foreign wills, will be read in, and of necessity must be read in, to the language of that section, so that “all wills” means and should be read to mean “all foreign wills”; and that “foreign wills,” as the phrase is here employed, means all wills other than domestic wills, as plainly appears from the language of the section itself, which describes these wills as all those “duly proved and allowed in any other of the United States, or in anyoforeign country or state.” In illustration, it might be pointed out that if the legislature had passed an act under the title of “An act for the government of boys in penal and reformatory institutions,” and the body of the act had begun with the declaration, “All boys shall,” etc., it would unhesitatingly be said that the phrase “all boys” had reference exclusively to all boys in penal and reformatory institutions in this state. We think this same unhampered jurist would point out that the matter of recognizing the judgment of a foreign state rested originally wholly in comity, and that, saving as exacted by section 1 of article IV of the constitution of the United States, still rests wholly in comity. It would be pointed out that while the states themselves, as has this state, have by appropriate legislation provided that full faith and credit should be given to the adjudications of sister states, this never has meant that the state itself has parted with any of its sovereign rights, with any of its rights of primary jurisdiction, nor with any of the rights of its subjects, to have the will of a fellow-resident originally proved in the county of his residence, where, presumptively, he is the best known, and where they may the better litigate all questions touching the validity of the solemn instrument offered for probate.

Recognition would be given to the indisputable principle that every state has plenary power with respect to the administration and. disposition of the estates of deceased persons as to all property of such persons found within its jurisdiction. Thus the courts of a state may and do grant original probate upon wills of deceased non-residents who leave property within that state. In California this is expressly provided for by section 1294, supra, and the rule as to other states is the same. (1 Woerner on Administrators, *439; Shields v. Life Ins. Co., 119 N. C. 380, [25 S. E. 951]; Gordon’s Case, 50 N. J. Eq. 397, [26 Atl. 268]; Putnam v. Pitney, 45 Minn. 242, [47 N. W. 790]; Walton v. Hall’s Estate, 66 Vt. 455, [29 Atl. 803]; Jacques v. Horton, 76 Atl. 238.) But the limitations of the operation of this principle would also be recognized,—namely, that this exercise of original jurisdiction over the estates of non-residents affects, and can affect, only the property within the state. The judgment admitting the will to probate is valid in all other states only as to the property within the jurisdiction of the court pronouncing the judgment. It has no extra-territorial ,foree, establishes nothing beyond that, and does not dispense with nor abrogate the formalities and proofs which may be exacted by other jurisdictions in which the deceased also left property subject to their laws of administration. (1 Woerner on Administrators, *491.) And in this connection it would be further pointed out that if the position contended for by appellant is sound it involves upon the part of the state a formal surrender of so much of its sovereignty and right of primary jurisdiction, conferring that upon foreign states, and at the same time to this extent is subversive and destructive of the rights of its citizens. It would be said with exact truth that the full faith and credit which is accorded to the adjudications of sister states is a full faith and credit consonant with complete jurisdiction and control of the sovereign state over all its inhabitants and over all the property within its boundaries. No less would the practical hardships of such an interpretation be pointed out, because if it were so that all wills, therein including domestic wills of residents of this state, could be primarily proved in a foreign jurisdiction, and by mere exemplification of that proof be entitled to ancillary probate under the laws of this state, it would result in numerous instances that wills of residents of this state would be probated in foreign jurisdictions without the knowledge of those in interest resident in this state, and without an opportunity to them afforded of raising any question of fraud, insanity, undue influence, or the like, affecting the validity of the instrument. Further, it would be pointed out with justice that if the construction contended for be the true one, it is arrived at by obliterating all distinction between the probate of domestic and foreign wills, by refusing recognition to the language of the code classifying these foreign wills and by a surrender of the state’s original jurisdiction in these matters, with the result that it places the state of California in an anomalous class by itself. For neither the laws of Great Britain nor of any sister state of the United States ever have permitted, and we venture to say ever will permit, any such doctrine, and it may be safely added that no civilized country in the world has ever entertained it. Numerous cases would be cited showing that, while in matters of probate states by comity permit ancillary jurisdiction of foreign wills, they are jealous in the extreme of any invasion of, or attempt to invade, their original jurisdiction in such matters. (Manuel v. Manuel, 13 Ohio St. 459; Sturdivant v. Neill, 27 Miss. 157 ; Stark v. Parker, 56 N. H. 481; Wallace v. Wallace, 3 N. J. Eq. 616; In re Law (Sup.) 80 N. Y. Supp. 410; Moultrie v. Hunt, 23 N. Y. 394; Dial v. Gary, 14 S. C. 573, [37 Am. Dec. 737]; Story on Conflict of Laws, sec. 457; 23 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, p. 114; Schouler on Executors, secs. 15, 57; 2 Redfield on Wills, p. 290; 1 Woerner on Administrators, 226.)

In summing up, we think the unhampered jurist would reach the conclusion that our laws not only recognize, but sedulously preserve, the distinction between foreign and domestic wills and the probate thereof; that the law means what it says,—namely, that all domestic wills must be proved in the county of which the decedent was a resident at the time of his death, for thus the state preserves its sovereignty and its jurisdiction over matters primarily belonging to it, and thus also it preserves the rights of its other residents and citizens; furthermore, that all foreign wills may ■ be proved and allowed as provided in section 1322 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure; that in the case of a domestic will all questions touching the validity of the instrument are, and should be, primarily and exclusively cognizable by the courts of the state of the domicile; that in the case of a foreign will,—that is to say, of one not a resident of this state,— this state and its citizens have less concern with these questions of fraud, undue influence, and the like, and upon the offer of proof of such' a will it shall be admitted upon the evidence prescribed by section 1324, without right of contest upon such matters. (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 1913.) But nevertheless and always, when' a foreign will is so offered for probate in this state, two questions are open as new and original questions for the determination of our own probate court:. 1. The sufficiency of the proofs of foreign probate; and 2. The question of the residence of the deceased. For if upon the question of residence it shall be determined that the deceased was in truth a resident of this state, it follows of necessity that the proper state court has exclusive original primary jurisdiction to admit the will to probate, and will not admit it as a foreign will for ancillary proceedings. It does not, of course, follow that because the probate court under such circumstances will not admit it as a foreign will that it will refuse it probate altogether. It will grant it probate, the facts warranting, in proceedings under section 1294 for original probate. Nor can practical difficulty arise because such a will has been probated in a foreign jurisdiction, for the code (sec. 1299, supra) meets this precise situation by providing that petition may be made to the court having jurisdiction to have the will proved, whether it be lost or destroyed, or beyond the jurisdiction of the state.

We have discussed this question under what we have said we were convinced would be the view of a jurist treating the case as one of first impression. We are met, however, with the argument that our own adjudications express a contrary view, and are determinative of the question. Not that alone, but that this view has been adopted by the courts in probate throughout the state, and that the result of the construction of the law here set forth would be to declare void all letters admitting such wills to probate, and cloud the title to untold millions of property in the hands of innocent holders. If such consequences were to result, or if in fact there were any such adjudications, a court would pause long and ponder gravely before announcing a construction which would lead to such direful consequences. But the answer is that this court has made no such adjudications, and that no such consequences can follow; for, as has been said, this is the first time that the question upon direct appeal has been presented for determination. The cases to which appellant refers and upon which he relies are those of Rogers v. King, 22 Cal. 72, Goldtree v. McAlister, 86 Cal. 93, [24 Pac. 801], and Estate of Richardson, 120 Cal. 344, [52 Pac. 832]. In Rogers v. King the attack was collateral, not direct. The opinion is addressed to this state of facts, and the essential part of it is as follows: “The agreed case states that the executor named in the will filed in the probate court a petition for the probate of the will, and filed therein an authenticated copy of said will, and that the petition stated all the necessary facts. ... If, as agreed, the petition stated all the necessary facts, then upon its presentation with a copy of the will and the publication of due and legal notice, the court acquired jurisdiction to probate the will, and the judgment of the probate thereafter entered is conclusive. If any irregularities occurred in the proceedings or error in the judgment after jurisdiction was acquired, they could only be corrected by a direct proceeding for that purpose, and cannot be inquired into in this collateral proceeding.” This is all that the case of Rogers v. King contains, and it amounts to no more than a declaration that, the court in probate having acquired jurisdiction and having admitted a will to probate, errors in the exercise of its jurisdiction do not render its order admitting the will to probate void, and cannot be considered upon collateral attack. In Estate of Richardson, while it appears from the facts that the testator was a resident of California at the time of his death, and that his will had been originally probated in a sister state, and subsequently had been offered for probate in this state as a foreign will, the sole question at issue which this court was called upon to determine, and did determine, was the right of a nominee of a devisee to testamentary letters. The question now before the court, as to the right to probate the will under any circumstances as a foreign will, was never discussed nor decided. Goldtree v. McAlister was a case originally decided in Department and reconsidered by the court in Bank. That, too, involved the question, not of a direct, but of a collateral, attack upon the validity of an order admitting to probate as a foreign will the last testament of a resident of this state. The attack was principally directed to the sufficiency of the proof of authentication, and the court said: “An error of the court in deciding that certain documentary evidence, not properly authenticated, proved a valid foreign1 probate of a will, is not different in character or principle from an error in deciding, as in the case of Irwin v. Scriber, 18 Cal. 500, that certain evidence proved that the deceased had her last place of residence in Sacramento County. The error in the former case may have proceeded from a misconception of what constituted a valid foreign probate of a will, or from an error as to what was competent or sufficient evidence to prove it. In the latter case the error may have arisen from a mistaken view of what constituted a residence, or from an error as to what was sufficient or competent evidence to prove it. Such errors may be corrected by appeal, but do not render the judgment void.” This case, then, must be taken to decide, and to decide only, that upon collateral attack an order admitting a will offered as a foreign will to probate is not void for error either in .the proof of authentication or in proof of residence, as in Rogers v. King and Irwin v. Scriber. Question may be raised over the strict logic of that opinion, but no doubt can exist as to the strong necessity which called it forth. It must be taken, therefore, as settled in this state, upon the authority of the cases cited, that the probate of such wills is free from attack upon these questions in collateral proceedings, but that upon the other hand it is the duty of the court in probate to do' as the court here did, refuse probate to a will offered as a foreign will, if the court shall be satisfied from the evidence that the testator was in fact a resident of this state at the time of his death.

For the foregoing reasons the order and decree appealed from are affirmed.

Beatty, C. J., Lorigan, J., and Angellotti, J., concurred.